Henry f



HENRY F. METZLE-ll, OF NEW YORK, ASYSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND WILLIAM FQYOUNGS, 0F BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

Leamvpafem No. 77,513, @ma May 5, 186s.

, IMPROVEMENT 1N erranti-sOrissaA To ALL wHor'r 1r MAY coNcEnN:

Be it knownthat I, HENRY F.' METZLER, of the city of'New Yolrk,.inthe county of New York, and State ot New York., have invented a new and useful Improvement in Spring-Horses; and I do herebyv declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings,

and to the letters of reference marked thereon, in which-l Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of the .base-frame which supports the-horse, the vibrating-standard on which the horse is mounted, and the spiral spring which aids in keeping up the vibr'atory motion.

Figure 2 is afront view of the.' vibrating standard'whieh carries the herse,and I l Figures 3. and 4 are views of the two ends of the spiral spring D, showing the means of securing and attaching said ends respectively. v l i i This invention is an improvement upon the .spring-horsef heretofore invented by me, and described in Letters Patent issued to myself` and Thomas GfCopperthwaite, (assignees of mys'elf,) bearing date the 21st day of February, 1865, and numbered 46,529.

The spring-horse described in said patent'is aused to vibrate by the ehilds touching its feet to the baseframe or stationary base-piece, .in front'and'rear ol the vibrating-standards alternately, and at each touch of' its feet making a suiicient jump oirvspring-to carry the horse, (with the child mounted thereon,) and with the aid ofr the spiral springs described in said patent, over the perpendicular point, and land the childs feet oars-aid base-frame at the opposite end. By means of my invention all necessity of the childs touching its feet to the base-frame, or to any other stationary object, is' ohviated, and the horse is made to leap or vibrate by .the child pressing its feet at the proper times upon afoot-supprt,which is attached to the vibrating-standard, and vibrates therewith.

is thc stationary base-frame; B, the vibrating-standard, on which the horse (notjshown inthe drawings)A is mounted; C isa rock-shaft, on which the'standard'B is munted; andD is a spiral spring, which brings the vibrating-standard back to aperpendicular position wheneverit is inclined in either direction. One end of this spring is made fast to the front end ofthe base-frame A, and the other end is hooked at e to a bracket, E, attached to the base ofthe vibrating-standard B, and the rock-shaft C on which said standard is mounted. It will be seen that whether said standard B-be inclined forward or rearward, the spring will b'e. drawn out or expanded, and by its contraction will tend to bring said standard back to its perpendicular position. 'F is a cross-bar, which constitutes a foot-rest or stirrup for the child. It is attached to the vibratingstandard B by means ot a screw and nut, f, and is adjustable to suitV a child of any size, by moving it np or down, the screwboltf moving in a slot, latin-the standard B. The horse is mounted .on the standard B at H. When the child bears its whole weight on the horse, an inclination of the body forward or rearward will 4cause the horse and the standard B toincline in the saine direction, butif the child throws its ,weight upon the foot-rest F, the

leverage is so diminished that the spring D will bring the horse back to a vertical position, when the child releases the pressure with its feet, and by a slight inclination of the body, causes the horse to pass the vertical point and vibrate to the desired distance. Thus, by alternately pressing with its feeton the foot-rest F-,and releasing the pressure, and bya slight andfnaturalmovement of the body, the child is enabled to keep up a vibrating, leaping motion of the horse, quite similar to the natural movements of a living horse. I regard this as a valuable improvementupon my former mode, which requires the child Ato makea jump or spring from the door or base-frame, for each leap of-the horse. A.

The spring-horse described in the former patent referred to, is mounted on two vibrating-standards, and this I regard as necessary to produce the best motion, by preventing the horse from coming tovtoo great an angle to the horizen, at the extremities of the vibrations. But as my improvement is equally applicable to a horse mounted on one or two standards, I have in the drawing represented but one. When two vibratingstandards are used, as described in said former patent, the foot=rest will be attached to the front standard, which will brngit in the proper position for the childs feet. Two spiral springs may be used, one in front and one in rear of the vibratingstandards, as represented in said former patent. v

Instead of a ratchet-wl1eel and patvl to regulate the tension of the spiral spring, as described in my former patent, I now use a simple thumb-screw, z', passing through the cross-bar at the end of the base-frame, and a nut, j, to which the end of the spiral 4coil is attached. By .turning `the screw i, the tension of the spiral spring may be increased or diminished.

I also use an improved means of attaching the ends ofthe spiral spring, consisting of a cross-bar, jj', with a hole in each end large enough to insert the wire. The extremity of 4the coiled wire is first passed through one end of said cross-bar, which is then slipped around until the same extreme end of the wire will pass through the other end of the bar. Said cross-bar may then be attached to ahy' object by a hook, link, pivot, screw, or other fastening. Iind it abetter means of securing the end of a spiral spring than any I have hitherto known. The cross-bar j in this case forms the nut for the screw z'.

Having thus fully described my invention, u'hatlclaim as an improvement upon'my aforesaid former invention, and desire'to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The adjustable foot-rest, vibrating with the-horse, substantially as described.

42. The ,cross-barsj andj, to secure the ends of 'the spiral spring, and asa means of attaching the san-1e to the screw z', and bracket E, substantially as described.

, HENRY F. METZLER. Witnesses: 4

HENRY BARAGWANATH,

N. LocKwooD. 

